Mark Cuban Explains The Real Reason He Joined The 'Shark Tank' Cast

Mark Cuban has an estimated net worth of about $3
billion and is the owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.
His website lists 96
companies that he's invested in, with about half of
those deals made over four seasons of ABC's hit show "Shark
Tank."

Cuban is happy to lend his star power to the show because he sees
it as "the New Age lemonade stand." He explains:

"Shark Tank" sends a message, right? I do "Shark Tank" — the
deals are good and I enjoy it — but to me, the importance of
doing "Shark Tank" is more sending the message that the American
Dream is alive and well.

There's no other platform — whether it's in school, whether it's
on television — there's absolutely no other platform where you
can go out and reach kids, families, and entrepreneurs, and
encourage them, support them, train them, really fire them up,
and give them some guidance to go ahead and really start that
business.

Cuban tells Ritholtz that he learned of the show's growing
cultural impact shortly after his guest investor appearances in
season 2. He says that at that time "all of a sudden I start
getting emails and comments from people on the street: 'I love
the show 'cause my 7-year-old loves to watch it/my 12-year-old
now understands valuations. We talk about businesses.' When you
see a family from Iowa standing on that carpet on 'Shark Tank'
talking about the company they started as a family, it makes kids
realize they can do it, too."

The returns from "Shark Tank" investments may be a relatively
small fraction of Cuban's income, but he takes the show and its
companies seriously.

Cuban says he tries to avoid making deals with other Sharks but
that when he does he most likes working with real estate expert
Barbara Corcoran. "Barbara's always got a unique spin on things,"
he says.

And even though Cuban sees his participation on "Shark Tank" as a
service to small businesses and budding entrepreneurs across the
US, he's still fiercely competitive when making deals on the
show.

When he reaches a deal with another Shark, he says, he likes to
take charge. "I pretty much take control of the deal, and they
can have some of the economics — I don't care."